Flicker
by Little Tin Wings
Summary: "Tell me your secrets, all of them. I'll keep them safe so no one can find them." "I don't even know my own secrets. I lost them a long time ago." A pause that lasted a lifetime, or perhaps, barely a moment. "I can help you find them, for a price. Are you willing to give me the one that controls the Chaos Emeralds?" This pause didn't even last half a second. "No."
1. Silence

**_A/N: _**Okay... I wrote this up several months ago, but I didn't post it becuase I didn't think I was going to turn it into an actual story. Now, it's developed into something much bigger than I had planed, and it's still developing. I don't entirly know where I'm going with this, but I can tell that it's going to be a long and bumpy ride. So I would suggest you either get ready to buckle up when we get a few chapters in, or prepare yourself to jump out the nearest window. And please, try not to get hit by speading authors on the way out. I would hate to have to stop and clean up a mess.

I'll try to update when I can, but I don't know how often that will be. Anyhow, enough of my rambling and on with the prologue! If you don't enjoy the ride, I hope you at least enjoy the view ;)

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><p>Silence wraps around us, pulls us into its calm void, seeps through us until we're nothing; we no longer exist. We drown in it, wrap ourselves tighter in its blanket, and never realize that it erases us. I loved silence, I used to bathe in it, let it carry me away on its wings. But I never asked to be erased. I never asked it to take away my memories, my life, my whole world. Never asked it to leave me with nothing but its suffocating grasp, and that strange orange glow in the back of my mind. The glow that always whispers to me, whispers one single word. <em>'Blaze'.<em> That's all it tells me. All it ever says. _'Blaze'. _That single word that means everything and nothing to me, tells me that I'm alive; tells me I'm drowning.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm already dead, if all this darkness is my coffin in the vast void of silence. And sometimes I think I've been wandering the desert for the past several years, the world stuck in an endless night, no stars to light the sky. Or maybe I've simply lost my mind, and I'm drifting into the beautiful land of madness, swimming through its black sea until I reach insanity. The thought makes a laugh whisper somewhere in the corners of my mind, pushing away some of the heaviness that surrounds me.

A sudden jolt runs through my body, and I feel something, truly feel something, press against my skin. A strange sensation of hope or excitement clutches my heart. I haven't felt anything outside my mind for a long time. Or maybe I've _never_ felt anything outside my mind; outside this abyss. So I reach for the feeling, reach for that sting of cold metal biting my flesh, hoping it will pull me out of this emptiness. But I feel it pulling away, trying to shake off my grip so it can fly away to its own freedom and leave me here to rot in all this darkness. I cling to it tightly until it fades completely, leaving me alone once more. A bitter laugh echoes across the caged walls of my mind, and I let it drag me down again, back to the whispering voice of silence.

Silence has always been my only friend in this dark abyss. But now, I'm starting to think it's the only life I'll ever have.


	2. Power of a god?

**_A/N: _**Thank you, trackstar777, for your review. I plan to try my hardest to make this a good story.

Blaze may seem rather overpowerful in this chapter, but not all the power is her's. I can not explain it all right now, for that would be spoiling quite a lot of the story, but I _will_ have a slight explanation in the next chapter. And she will also have weaknesses that she never would have had before. In no way am I going to make her an unstoppable Mary-Sue. What kind of story would it be if nothing could bring her down?

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><p><em><strong>Shadow<strong>_

A haze of voices shouting and whispering, floating around the room like worried thoughts. Bodies press together as everyone crowds around, sweat and moister mingling in clothing and fur. This room is too small for so many people, but no one seems to notice or care; all that occupies everyone's thoughts is the crazy readings that flare up and die out across the monitor screen.

"Not a Chaos Emerald." We found that out as soon as we saw the readings, but people keep repeating it like it will_ become_ a Chaos Emerald. "Stronger than all seven merged with the Master Emerald." That was established as soon as our Emerald Radar broke from being overloaded with the massive amount of data. "More powerful than the Eclipse Cannon." It didn't take a genius to figure that one out. "More powerful than _two _Eclipse Cannon's merged together." That's a new one.

Everyone looks at Rouge, her face as carefree and flirtatious as ever, her voice calm as if this matter isn't serious. "What?" she asks, raising both perfect brows playfully. "It's obvious that whatever this thing is, it has the power of a god." Despite all the body heat swimming around the room, the air freezes over. _The power of a god._

The commander's mouth opens and closes, like he wants to contradict her, but nothing comes out. After an uncomfortable and awkward pause, he points to the door and barks, "Everyone out except Agent Shadow and Agent Rouge." All the other agents squeeze out of the room reluctantly, sharing worried glances.

After the door's shut, the commander points to the screen. "It's showing up in the forest of Mystic Ruins. Go. Find out what it is but don't try to stop it. Keep a safe distance away and report back so we can discuss what the best plan of action is."

"Sir," I say quietly. "Are you sure this is a wise idea? Rouge just stated that it has the power of a god, and you're telling us to go find it."

Something dark crosses his face and he straightens his posture. "You're the Ultimate Life-from, Agent. Are you telling me you can't handle a god?" I stiffen, but he continues. "All we'll be doing is sitting around here all day trading theories about what it is and not getting anything done. I gave you an order, now follow it. And keep your questions silent." He turns back to the monitors and the conversation is over.

I snarl silently at his back and Rouge winks at me, taking my hand and leading me out. I'll find out what that thing is, all right. But I'm not just going to report back and leave it be. I'm going to find out what it is, and I'm going to destroy it. _Keep your questions silent._ I smirk darkly. Actions speak louder than words, Commander. _Actions speak louder than words._

_**Blaze**_

Darkness sometimes seems similar to silence, though in truth, it is different in many ways. Silence likes to clutch us in its too warm embrace, but darkness splays before us; open, waiting, welcoming. Some think it's secretive, evil, full of monsters. It is not. It is quite simple in comparison to silence. Silence sneaks up on you when you least expect it, pretending to be kind, and loving. And then it grabs you, wraps itself tighter around you, suffocates you. But darkness lets you know it's there, always stays in plain sight. It does not sneak up on you, it falls slowly around you in a black curtain. And it is beautiful.

_**Rouge**_

_The power of a god._ The words make my heart stop, even though they were mine. They make me feel like something and everything is watching us, like there are eyes beneath the earth. I acted casual when I said it, I acted like the realization of its power didn't faze me. But inside I'm panicking. I'm screaming because I don't know what it is, because I don't know if we can stop it. Inside I'm tearing myself apart because I don't know how far "a safe distance" is without being blown to pieces.

Mud and rocks fly behind our bikes, the rain pelting us like whips of fire. I'm shivering, because the rain is freezing my body and I am afraid. And the fear is what terrifies me more than anything.

Shadow always acts like the fearless one, but I have seen his fears. I've seen him beaten and broken and pulled back together. _I_ have pulled him back together. He is strong. He is brave. He has made sacrifices beyond what this world deserves. He has acted fearless when his nightmares come alive. And I have stood beside him. But I have never seen my _own _fears so clearly.

_**?**_

_ We watch for her, we wait for her to open her eyes. She will come, she will come for us. And he will find her when the stars have finished forming, when the flames burn the brightest. We cannot see her for we have no eyes. But she will be our eyes. She will lead us above this world, to where we belong. He will bring her to us and then he will try to take her back. He will try to keep her for himself. But he will die. He will die with the others that will try to stop us. But she shall come home, and he shall be the only that needs suffer._

_**Blaze**_

If darkness is the only essence that exists in this world, I think I'll be content to drown in it. It holds me close like a dear friend, tight enough to comfort me, but not so tight it chokes me. No. It doesn't choke me like the silence does. It draws a path before me, leading to safety. If only I could see it.

_**Shadow**_

We stop about a mile from the forest, the swamps getting harder to avoid. There's no way we'll be able to make it the rest of the way on our bikes, so we'll have to go on foot. Rouge's nose wrinkles at the idea of trampling through mud, but there's nothing I can do. She can fly if she doesn't like it.

I take a step forward and Rouge follows me, the only sound the pelting rain and sloshing of wet earth beneath our feet. But somehow, silence greets us. It tugs at us like a warning, trying to get us to listen. I try to focus on my footsteps; _left right left right left right..._ my focus wavers. I love silence, but now is not the time to get lost in it. Not while we're on a mission... It seeps into my head, and my mind wraps around it.

_"Hold me," _it whispers. _"Hold me."_ My mind is already clutching it tightly. But I can't help it. I can't say no. It reminds me of a lonely child, begging to be loved. And I can't seem to let go of it.

_**?**_

All this time has passed, and still no sign of you. Decades, centuries... A frozen murmur that was once your glory. I've been looking for you, searching every star and moon for the slightest glimmer of your burning flames. But still, nothing. Are you even alive anymore? Or have you long since died? I hold on to your memory, hoping it's enough to keep you burning. I will look for you until I find you, search until I know you have faded. I will not give you up so easily. Just remember, my dear flame, that I will continue climbing through the centuries of timeless years, until I find your last spark.

_**Shadow**_

"Shadow!" Rouge's voice drags me out of my embrace, pulling me too far out into the rain. I blink and look at her, and I realize that she's clutching my arm, her sharp claws digging into my skin. From the look on her face, I don't think she means to grip my arm so tightly. Her eyes are wide and she looks worried. It seems we've stopped in our tracks, rain sopping from our fur.

"What?" I ask after a moment, my tone harsher than I intended it to be. She lets go of my arm and points in front of us. The forest is in sight now, and I can see smoke rising from the treetops. I look back to Rouge. Her eyes have hardened slightly, her mouth pinched tight.

"We need to keep going. See what it is but don't stop it and all that..." Her face scrunches up like she doesn't believe it, but she just shakes her head. And then, I blink and a smile's bloomed across her face. She gives me a familiar wink and begins walking again. "Come on, Shads. Let's go stop a god." I laugh dryly. She makes it sound so easy.

_**Rouge**_

He gets lost so easily. All it takes is one quite moment and his mind goes somewhere else; wandering. It scares me sometimes, the thought that he might get lost and never come back. I'm afraid that he's made a world up inside his mind, one that is more pleasant than the one we live in. A world where everything's perfect, a paradise that has no suffering. I'm afraid that he'll go there one day, and never come back. _But he __**always**__ comes back._

I glance over at him as we stride quickly forward, and I can see his eyes staring intently in front of us. He's focusing on the space between us and the forest, the space that seems to make him more anxious as it becomes smaller. He's adjusting his armor, getting ready for a fight, getting ready to take down whatever stands in his way. When he gets ready for a battle, though, he doesn't become more solid. His armor turns him into even more of a shadow than he already is.

_**Blaze**_

An orange glow of madness, spreading across my mind like fire, devouring my thoughts. Is _this_ what stole my life and memories? Is _this_ what pulled me down into the sea of unknown death? I always thought that it was the silence. But who can know silence. I hear a laugh somewhere; echoing. Perhaps the glow does. It seems to know something. Or perhaps _it _is my life and memories, calling to me across the emptiness. I can't reach it. I can only hear it calling. _'Blaze'. _It's calling me closer; calling me home.

_**Shadow**_

We're at the edge of the forest, hesitating before entering. The smoke is killing us. It's seeping into our mouthes and noses, scratching its way down our throats and overwhelming our lungs. The strange thing is, we see no fire. With all this smoke, we should at least be able to see the smallest flicker of flames, the tiniest of hints to tell us what might lie before us. But there's nothing. I grit my teeth. _Nothing._

"Well? We can't exactly go in there with all that smoke..." Rouge says absently. Her brows are furrowed and her eyes intent. I can tell she's lost in thought. She's right. Going in there would be suicide. Hmm... I shake my head slightly, my lips pursing as I consider the possibilities. I might be able to make a shield with my Chaos Energy...

I'm about to put my thoughts to words, but a flicker of orange catches my eye. _Fire._ It's moving towards us, but it doesn't appear to be growing. It's just moving. And as it gets closer, I can see that it's walking. It's a shape, a form, something living. It's coming towards us the way an old friend might. _An old friend that would like to kill us._ I hear Rouge gasp, and my eyes widen when it leaves the cover of the trees. It's not just a fire or a shape, it's not just a walking form. It's a person. _It's me._

_**Blaze**_

So much fire, so much smoke. _I can see it._ No. I can sense it. I can't see it. Everything is still completely black. _Other than that glow_. A form emerges from the smoke, I think, and the fire leaps at it angrily. _What is it doing?_ It's attacking it, sucking all life force and energy from it. _It's going to die._ _'No,'_ I try to say, calling to the fire. It pulls back almost immediately, fading away into the deepest edges of my imagination. The creature has disappeared as well. I sigh faintly. _At least it's still alive somewhere... Maybe someday, I'll find out who it was._

_**Shadow**_

A Chaos Spear through where the heart should be does nothing. The form of fire lunges at me and easily pins me to the ground. Its flames burn me relentlessly, its orange face staring at me somewhat curiously, if it could have an expression. I grit my teeth against the pain in my burning flesh, but it makes it hard to focus my energy. I can't get up, I can't move. I'll I can do is stare into that flaming face that looks like mine. _Fire shouldn't have this effect on me._ But something tells me it's not just fire.

I try to see Rouge, but my vision is so fuzzy. I feel a searing pain run down my cheek like falling tears, and I realize that the form is caressing my face. I look back to it, and that's when it hits me. I can't move or focus my energy because this form has something so close to Chaos Energy inside of it, yet it's so vastly different. It's pulling and repelling my own energy at the same time, and the contradiction of magnetic fields is paralyzing me.

I expect the form to kill me, and the thought of failing my mission so quickly makes me angry and a little bit ashamed. Only a few Chaos Spears, and I'm down. _Are you telling me you can't handle a god?_ I snarl softly in my mind, and I think I manage to close my eyes because everything is black. But then the heat and pain leaves my body, and my vision clears. The form has faded completely, taking the burns from my flesh with it.

My legs are wobbly when I stand, and I see Rouge on her hands and knees beside me. She's panting heavily, but appears to be unharmed. "Rouge," I say, my voice somewhat scratchy. She looks up at me, and I think I see relief spread across her face.

"Hey, handsome," she breathes, sounding a little tired. I reach out my hand and help her up. We both stand there for a moment, staring at the forest in front of us. I think we're both trying so hard to make sense of what just happened, that we don't notice right away that the smoke is gone. The fire was there, it was killing us, and then it just left. And now the smoke's just disappeared in a matter of seconds.

I look to Rouge and take a step into the trees. "We need to figure out what that was." She nods and walks in beside me. Neither of us know what to expect as we go deeper.

_**Blaze**_

Find me. Come into this endless moment of nothing and find me. Pull me up out of this death and save me. I don't know who I speak to. The stars, the silence, perhaps the wind. I don't even know if anyone can hear me. But please... Someone, anyone, no one, a dream... Please find me and let me know that I'm alive. Pull me out of this and send me on a road to find the stars. Or leave me to drown and fade into ashes.

_**Shadow**_

The rain pelts us even harder under the cover of the trees, trying to drown us in its angry bursts. But I can feel something. We're getting closer, I know we are. The brush and trees are getting harder to walk through, but we're almost there. _Just a little farther..._ And suddenly, we're spit out into a clearing, the rain stopped and the leaves brilliantly emerald. I'm stunned by its beauty, by the magic that glistens in the delicate sunlight.

"Shadow," Rouge breathes. She's in awe too, I can see it in her wide eyes. "It's beautiful." I'm about to respond, but then a glint of gold catches my eye.

In the middle of the clearing, lying in a bed of leaves and flower pedals, lies a figure. A battered lavender cat, smoke and steam rising from her matted fur. _The energy source..._ I expected a fight, I expected to see something beyond this world rising against us. I did not prepare to see a dying creature, blood seeping from her tattered flesh.


	3. Paralyzed

**_A/N: _**Wow, it's been over a month since I last updated... So sorry to anyone who might read this. I've been working on other projects, and haven't had a whole lot of inspiration for this story. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but in no way am I going to drop it and never finish. I have so much planned for this story and want it to get somewhere.

Before I continue one with the chapter, I'd like to thank those who have reviewed. I'm very glad that there are people who actually like this! Your words truly mean a lot to me. So once again, I thank you. :) I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

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><p><em>A withered sigh of disappointment. "You used to be more, so much more."<em>

_ A harsh laugh of irony. "This is all I've ever been."_

_ Closed eyes and a responding laugh, this one more exhausted than from the other speaker. "You have always been more than you are now. Now, you are close to nothing. I used to be more as well. And now, I am less than nothing."_

_ Softening eyes, a comforting voice hinting at concern. "You're enough now. Enough for me." A choked breath. "You've always been enough for me. But I have always been ashes; nothing more than dust."_

_ Hot breath on burning cheeks. "They want you, Blaze. They want you back."_

_ Flaring eyes narrowing in confusion. "Back? I have never been their's, and I never will be."_

_ Leaning forward, slitted eyes glinting. "You have always been their's. And so have I. We never stopped being their's, we only forgot. We forgot everything, and we continue to forget. We will never be free until we once again are in their clutch, and our minds are once again whole."_

_**Shadow**_

Her heartbeat, a steady drum of life, slowing down to nothing more than a breath of air. This has happened before, but she never dies. Her pulse always flares up wildly and then goes back to normal. But she has yet to open her eyes. Two months, and no response. I shake my head. Two months, and barely a sign of life.

We found out that over half the energy comes from that gold necklace around her neck. We have examined it the best we could, but we can't remove it from her neck. Whenever we try to touch it, we are burned. It is so similar to Chaos Energy, but so vastly different. And even though it contains over half the energy, under half is still a lot for one creature to possess. _How can she hold so much inside her?_ She should explode. A mortal body, holding power beyond reason. It should not be possible.

"What are the chances of her waking up?" I glance up at the sound of Rouge's voice, turning my gaze away from the heart monitor. She looks relaxed, as always, her eyes never leaving the nurse.

The nurse seems nervous, her gaze always flicking from one place to the next. She chews her lip absently, glancing at the coma patient momentarily. "Close to none," she says. "All that energy has probably fried her brain. I would be shocked if she even_ lives _another two months."

Rouge nods, her gaze hardening for a moment. Then she shakes her head and winks at me. "Well, I guess I should go. Gotta show our new recruits around." She walks to the door and waves over her shoulder. "See ya." _New recruits._ I groan inwardly. She means that idiot _Sonic_ and his equally idiotic friends. I have no idea why the commander let them join.

"I've got to go too," the nurse says suddenly. "Other patients to check on." Her gaze shifts to me and then to the door. "If anything happens, just let me know." She leaves without saying anything else, and I look back to the cat.

It's strange, she looks so peaceful but so troubled, her face relaxed and tensed at the same time. She reminds me of when I used to look out at the stars on the ARK, when I would gaze down at the world from far above. But I don't trust her. I feel trouble circling around her. When I look at her, I see heaven and destruction. It's like her energy; it's pulling me and repelling me, calling me closer and pushing me away.

I take a step so I stand beside her. I _need _to feel her energy, but I also dread it. It makes me feel alive, takes me far away, but it kills me, drags me down into nightmares. Cautiously I press my fingers against hers, feeling that strange magnetic pulse. This time I don't feel the burn from her flesh, I don't feel the numb, parallelizing sensation. Only warmth. _What are you?_

_**Blaze**_

Cold energy surrounds me, closing in around me, shoving smoke up my lungs. I have felt this so many times, tasted the foul stench of smoke more times than I can count. But despite the unpleasant feeling, I am overjoyed. I can _taste_, I can _feel_, no matter how short the moment. This time though, the sensation is over before it barely started. And as I start to fall back into the dangerous void of nothing, a warmth touches me, somewhere around my edges.

The energy reaches out again to touch me, but this time it's warm. It does not suffocate me and force smoke in my lungs, this time I feel a force of life. A laugh bubbles from my lips, and I grasp the warmth that touches me. I feel suddenly overwhelmed by sensations and feelings and noise. My eyes snap open and I'm greeted by large pools of color, blending into one as my vision blurs. I fall back into darkness before I can fully come out of it, but I am content. For the first time in what feels like centuries, I am content.

As I drift further and further into the sea of black, I let those glorious pools of color wash over me. Those glorious, blood red pools that almost pulled me into the light. My heart gives a leap of joy as I let the image brand itself in my memory. Deep pools of red... _So... beautiful..._

_**Shadow**_

I'm startled by the sound of a gasping laugh, warm fingers grasping my own in feeble hope. My eyes widen as I stare at the cat, her grip like iron. _She's waking up._ My heart beats faster with anticipation, waiting for her to burst awake and light the room on fire. I'm ready for her flame creatures, ready to take them apart. I'm ready to tear _her_ apart if I have to. But all she does, is open her eyes. Golden orbs, burning but frozen, staring blearily into mine with a strange intensity. A moment later, they close again and her hand goes limp. But a faint smile curls her lips.

_**}{-}{**_

A month later, and the power seems to have vanished from her necklace. Whatever is inside of her is still there, but the over half is gone. _Disappeared._ How could that happen? How could so much power just vanish into thin air? _Gone, vanished, no longer here._ It doesn't make sense. Nothing has made much sense since she arrived. _She can't be from this world._ I remember looking at her, and seeing the stars from aboard the ARK. _Is that where she's from?_ I think back to when Rouge and I found her, lying amongst the leaves and flowers, the unearthly feeling I felt when I picked her up. _She's not from here._ No. Too much darkness and silence surrounds her. Too much thrilling trouble. _Stay away from her._ I will. I can't. I need to find out what she is. It doesn't matter. It's complicated. _She's complicated._

"Shads buddy, you with us?" My eyes snap open to be greeted by the face of Sonic the Hedgehog, his grass-green orbs inches from my own.

I snarl softly and push him away. "Get out of my face." He sits back and stares at me, an idiotic grin stretching his features. "What?" I snap, glaring at him. I hear a soft chuckle and glance around the room. Apparently, while I was lost in thought, _everyone else_ decided to crowd in the lounge room and invade my privacy. I groan inwardly. Of _course_ I couldn't have a moment to myself.

"You know, Faker, if you keep frowning like that, your face is going to freeze in a glare," Sonic says teasingly.

"No, it's going to freeze in a pout," Amy pipes up, smiling faintly. _Why_ did the commander let them join?

Someone else starts saying something, but I stand up to leave. Before I can take a step, however, the speaker above gives a large warning blast. The commander's voice spills out of the speaker, spreading painfully loud over the room. _"Agents Shadow, Rouge, Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy Rose, go to Station Square __**immediately.**__ Doctor Eggman has appeared with a __**very destructive**__ robot, and is in the process of tearing down buildings."_

I'm gone in a flash of light before anyone can say anything, Chaos Spears already forming in my hands. _If I can't take down a god, a mad man will do for now._

_**?**_

"What do you see in her future?" Stars shifted in the realm, swimming around in the swirls of light. They laughed joyously, making constellations to light the many worlds below.

A mother's gentle laugh, echoing and fading like a small breath of wind through leaves. "I think you mean _their_ future, oh Trapped Soul. There are many people in her future, and they will suffer because of her. None of them shall be spared the knowledge of pain. Her past will drive them many places, but her future is no more important than the rest of their's. They all have a crucial part to play."

"Then what do you see in _their_ future, oh Mother of Nature?"

"Elements and secrets, power and dreams. I see gods and warriors and wavering trust. They will fight and they will win, they will die many times. Oh, how they shall die."

_**Shadow**_

Pain shatters my body like knives and splintered bones, my head spinning as the robot slams me against a building, through a window and crushing through brick; again and again and again. I close my eyes and imagine a wall of energy between my body and the cold metal of the robot. _"Chaos, grant me your power."_ An explosion pops my ears, a foul stench raids my lungs, and I am falling. Wind rushes around me and I focus my energy to teleport, but I stop suddenly in mid-air, warm arms surrounding me.

"Watch it, handsome, wouldn't do us much good if you broke your neck." Rouge lowers us to the ground and she's off again before I can thank her, soaring the wind as gracefully as a dove. I nod silently in her direction, and my ears straighten at the sound of a gasped scream.

Amy was hurled forcefully into Knuckles, and now they lie in a crumpled heap on the cracked concrete, the metallic monster above them lifting its leg to crush them. I teleport before I can think, the heavy weight slamming down on my upturned palms. I grunt through clenched teeth, the grinding metal straining my battered body. _"Chaos Blast!"_ A golden beam of energy spears the wide blue sky, piercing through the robot and blowing it backwards.

Clouds of smoke from blown circuits swim around me, and I charge through it, throwing Chaos Spears in direction of the off balance bot. I hear laughter coming from the doctor flying above us in his chair, and as the smoke clears, I see Rouge and Sonic in the iron grip of the metallic beast. I snarl softly under my breath. _Chaos, grant me your power._

_**Blaze**_

A fading, pulsating, wave of electric energy, pressing against me and passing around me. I feel as if I could open my eyes again, as if I could burst out into that world with those beautiful pools of red. But no matter how hard I try, I keep falling; falling into that land where everything is silent. _Save me._ How many times have I pleaded that? How many times have I _begged_ to be saved, only to be left to rot and fade?

_ Someone, anyone, no one, a dream... Please find me and let me know that I'm alive. Pull me out of this and send me on a road to find the stars. Or leave me to drown and fade into ashes._ I guess I got what I asked for if no on would save me; to be left to drown and fade into ashes. _I have always been ashes, nothing more, only ever less._ I sigh and breathe deeply. _At least I still know how to breathe..._ As if that amounts to anything. _Useless._

_ Chaos, grant me your power._ I jolt slightly. Something is calling to me; calling me far away from the silence, into that world I long to see. _Calling me to where I belong. _Something or someone needs me.

_"Go quickly, child."_ A voice, something soft and soothing, pulls me towards the one that pleads for power. _"Go!"_ I jerk forward and awake, my eyes snapping open.

_Sol, grant me your blessing._

_**Shadow**_

"Oh, Shadow... I must say, I'm rather disappointed in you. Your 'Chaos Blast' was barely more than a powerful Chaos Spear. An actual _Chaos Blast_ should have destroyed my lovely creation. But as you can see, it hardly scratched it in the slightest!" The mad man floating above me in his hover chair laughs hardily, large hands resting on his overly large middle. He leans forward, eyes glinting beneath his lenses. "Maybe you're losing your touch." I clench my fists when he swings Sonic and Rouge tauntingly in front of me. _He certainly has a lot of nerve to say that to __**me.**_

"I believe you're the one losing your touch, _Doctor,_" I say mildly, lifting my chin and settling my eyes firmly on his. "Resorting to physically _beating _your enemies against buildings? I though you had more subtlety than that." The robot swings its arm at me but I smoothly jump out of the way. "Tch, pathetic." I generally wouldn't waste time _verbally_ insulting my enemies, but I need time to think of how to beat this thing. _An actual __**Chaos Blast **__should have destroyed my lovely creation_. So, I need a more powerful Chaos Blast...

"Perhaps I've decided to stop _playing around_ with all you _nuisances_." He looks amused and angry at the same time, mouth twisted in a cruel snarl. _He's changed._ "What are you waiting for, Shadow? Aren't you the _Ultimate Life-form?_" A low growl rips from my throat. _Are you telling me you can't handle a __**god?**_He shouldn't have said that. He _really_ shouldn't have said that. I launch myself forward, crackling Chaos Energy surrounding my hands.

Laughter from above, pain in my knuckles as I smash my fists into the hard metal. _I can win._ I _always _win. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Life-form. I'm the guardian of this world, and I will _never_ be denied. _**Never.**_ Anyone who stands in my way will know my wrath. _Chaos, grant me yo-_ A cold fist of metal encases me, slamming me once more through brick.

"My dear Shadow, it's time to meet your end." I feel the crushing in my bones once more, the energy as it sears from deep within. _I will not be denied._ "And it's time, that I build my Empire. Such a shame it has to be atop your bones, but... I can't really see another way. Sayonara, Shadow the-" A searing heat passes around me, and I fall unnaturally slowly to the ground.

My head spins, my vision blurs, nothing around me makes any sense. _Why is it so hot?_ Fire. I see a fire. I squint and try to focus. _Pulling and repelling my energy at the same time, and the contradiction of magnetic fields is paralyzing me._ My eyes widen, and I stare at the lavender cat before me, gazing at me curiously with those golden orbs.

"Are you alright?" I blink slowly, trying to make sense of the question. _Am_ I alright? But before I can utter a sound, she glances over her shoulder. Ivo's shouting at her, and the robot is crashing towards us. _Move! _I try to snap, but I am still paralyzed by her energy. She glances calmly back at me before turning fully to the robot. _Is she insane?_ She waves her hand gracefully and dismissively, as if to make the heap of metal stop in its place. It doesn't stop, it keeps on coming. But it's burning; white hot.

_**Blaze**_

The wind rushing past me as I run, the glory of it as it blows through my hair. I never thought I could feel something so wondrous, so _exciting. _Of course, I had never expected to wake from that endless sleep.

Sirens blaring, people screaming, the one that calls for Chaos very close. "_Go quickly, child."_ Who does that voice belong to? I've heard it before, I know I have. Perhaps in the distant past, or maybe the realm of silence. Everything is so vast it's hard to tell where it all ends. Perhaps none of it matters now, because I see the beast I must destroy. I see the soul I must fight to save; the soul I must kill for the protect.

_"Oh mighty god of Sol, bless me with your ceaseless strength, so I may crush those that stand against me."_

_**Shadow**_

The robot melts before my eyes, a poll of metal trickling towards my feet. The doctor yells above me with promises of revenge, but I can't hear his shouts. He's gone by the time the heaviness weighing down my body has vanished, and I'm left standing amongst broken buildings.

"Whoa, what happened?" My gaze snaps to the side and I see Sonic and Rouge lying a safe distance away from where the robot had previously stood.

"Your enemy is gone now and you all are safe." I turn towards the cat that stands in the liquid metal, gaze unfocused and body swaying.

"Who are you?" I growl, mind reeling from finally getting a chance to learn the truth. But all she does, is glance at me before collapsing to the ground.

_**}{-}{**_

"When Shadow and Rouge first found her, her cells were very unstable. But now that all her power seems to have vanished, she's completely solid. The trouble is, I still haven't figured out where all that power could have gone..."

I sigh faintly as I lean against the wall, tuning out Tails' technical blabber and theories. It's been a week since our fight with Doctor Robotnik, and when we returned to GUN Headquarters, the rest of the power the cat held had vanished.

"Shadow?" My head snaps up at the sound of Tails addressing me, and he tenses slightly when I look at him. "I need a DNA sample off the coma patient, and I was wondering if you could get it because if she burns you, you have fast healing and all, so..." I nod and start walking to the door. "A strand of hair should do."

It's irritating, constantly having to run errands for everyone. But... as long as it's something to help find out who and what this cat is, I have no problem doing it. My fists and jaw clench tightly as I make my way down the hall. She may have saved me once, but I don't know a thing about her. And as soon as I find out _what_ she is, I'm going to destroy her before she can destroy this world.

_**}{-}{**_

Crashing objects and people's screams of terror; I'm running down the hall to her room, eager to tear her apart. I can't tell why, but ever since I found her, my instincts have been telling me to destroy her. And as soon as I burst into her room, my hands are charged with Chaos Energy.

She stands with her feet shoulder width apart, eyes cold with the intention to kill. Her fingers clutch a broken shard of glass like a knife, and an aura of fire surrounds her. When she opens her mouth to speak, her words erupt like a volcano. "If you value your life, you _will_ tell me where I am and how I got here. I have no tolerance for ignorant fools that hold no value or reason to live."


End file.
